Described by the FDA as “the most sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years”, Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act in 2010.
The preventive controls rules require human and animal food facilities to develop and implement written food safety plans that indicate the possible problems that could affect the safety of their products and outline steps the facility would take to prevent or significantly minimize the likelihood of those problems occurring, the FDA stated.
In the Blue Bell ice cream outbreak this year, FDA inspectors found many violations at a company plant, including dirty equipment, inadequate food storage, food being held at improper temperatures and employees not washing hands appropriately.
“We commend the agency for its commitment to transparency, guidance and education throughout the rulemaking process”, said FMI’s VP of food safety programs, Hilary Thesmar, in a statement. Over the past few years, outbreaks related to various foods, from spinach to peanut products, have accentuated the need to make improvements in food safety. The basis of the rule changes, according to the FDA, is to shift the agency’s efforts from mostly reacting to contamination to a proactive system of prevention.
The preventive controls rules draw on industry best practices, which many food producers already apply in their operations, Taylor said, and which have been shaped by public comments and conversations with farmers, consumers, industry and academics.
Other industry associations, such as the Food Marketing Institute, “commended the FDA” on finalizing the rules, Julie Gallagher reports for Supermarket News.
The FDA says consumers and their pets will be protected in various ways.
In order to find the source of tainted food, the FDA works with partners to identify clusters of people in separate geographic areas and traces the path of food eaten back to the source by analyzing hundreds-or thousands- of invoices and shipping documents. The new laws and regulations are aimed at reducing both those statistics.
“It’s a big step forward”, Sandra Eskin, director of food safety at the Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, told the Times.
The final rule for Preventive Controls on Animal Food likewise combines elements of an initial and supplemental proposal.
This could mean anything from implementing measures to kill bacteria that’s known to grow in cheese to ensuring equipment is handled in a way that prevents allergens – like peanuts – from contaminating food.
Noting that Americans count on the safety of the nation’s food supply, he added, “We can do so with a bit more confidence courtesy of these new provisions”.
Feed mills associated with fully vertically integrated farming operations (i.e., farms where the feed mill, animals, land, and establishment are all owned by the same entity) generally meet the definition of a farm and are therefore not subject to the Preventive Controls for Animal Food final rule.
Other regulations in the law will lead to safe imports.